This site is written in Interlingua. Interlingua is a standardization of
the languages of the Western World derived from Latin. It has all
the words that English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German,
and Russian have IN COMMON and a simple grammar. If you've
studied a Romance language, you should be able to read this site with
little trouble.
Here are some hints to using Interlingua.
| If you want to say... | say... |
|---|---|
| a or an | un (oon) |
| the | le (lay) |
| I | io (yo) |
| me | me (may) |
| my | mi (mee) |
| mine | mie (MEEay) |
| we | nos (nohs) |
| us | nos |
| our | nostre(NOHS tray) |
| ours | nostre |
| you | vos(vohs) |
| you | vos |
| your | vostre(VOHS tray |
| yours | vostre |
| he | ille (EElay) |
| him | le (lay) (him=lay, that should be easy to remember guys) |
| his, her, its | su (soo) |
| his, hers, its | sue (SOO ay) |
| she | illa (EE- lah) |
| her | la (lah) |
| it | illo (EE low) |
| it | lo (low) |
| they | illos (EE lohs) |
| them | los (lohs) |
| their | lor (lore) |
| theirs | lore (LORE-ay) |
| you (in general, you know) | on (ohn) |
| you (in general object) | uno (OO-no) |
| If you want to say | say |
|---|---|
| more | plus (ploos) |
| most | le plus (lay PLOOS) |
| more ... than | plus ... que (ploos ...kay) |
| very | multo (MOOLtoe) |
| less | minus (meanness) |
| least | le minus (lay meanness) |
| less....than | minus ...que (meanness ...kay) |
| as... as | tanto ....como (TANtoe ...COmo) |
| and | e (ay) |
| or | o (oh) |
| If you want to... | then... |
|---|---|
| make a noun that ends in a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) plural | add s to it. |
| make a noun that ends in a consonant plural (everything else) | add es to it. |
| use a describing word (adjective) | put it after the noun. |
| make an adverb from an adjective (-ly in English) | add mente to it. |
| talk in present time | drop the r from the verb in the dictionary. |
| give an order | drop the r from the verb in the dictionary. |
| talk in past time | add va to the present. |
| talk in future time | add -a to the verb in the dictionary and accent the a. |
| talk would or should | add ea to the verb in the dictionary and accent the e. |
| add -ed to a verb | add te to the present. Change the ete to ite if the verb in the dictionary ends in er |
| use compound past tense (made with have and an -ed verb) | use haber and a te verb |
| add -ing to a verb | add nte to the present, make it iente if it ends in ir. |
| say to in front of a verb | use the verb from the dictionary it ends in an r. |
| say let's do something | say vamos and use the verb from the dictionary |
| say may I do something | place que in front of the sentence. |
| use the passive (I am loved, you are seen, it is said) | change the sentence around to use the active (one loves me, one sees you, it says itself) |